Itelmen language
Chukotko-Kamchatkan language of Kamchatka Krai, Russia / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Western Itelmen?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Itelmen (Itelmen: Itənmən[2]) or Western Itelmen, formerly known as Western Kamchadal, is a language of the Chukotko-Kamchatkan family spoken on the western coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Fewer than a hundred native speakers, mostly elderly, in a few settlements in the southwest of Koryak Autonomous Okrug, remained in 1993. The 2021 Census counted 2,596 ethnic Itelmens, virtually all of whom are now monolingual in Russian. However, there are attempts to revive the language, and it is being taught in a number of schools in the region.
Itelmen | |
---|---|
Western Kamchadal | |
итэнмэн Itənmən | |
Native to | Russia |
Region | Kamchatka Peninsula |
Ethnicity | Itelmens |
Native speakers | 80 (2010 census)[1] |
Chukotko-Kamchatkan
| |
Cyrillic script | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | itl |
Glottolog | itel1242 |
ELP | Itelmen |
Pre-contact distribution of Itelmen and other Chukotko-Kamchatkan languages | |
Itelmen is classified as Critically Endangered by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. |
(Western) Itelmen is the only surviving Kamchatkan language. It has two dialects, the Southern dialect of Khayryuzovo and the Northern dialect of Sedanka.